Thursday, January 30, 2014

Roman Blood by Steven Saylor

Gordianus is a private investigator, called a Finder,
working around 50 B.C. in Rome. This series is rich with history and historical
figures. Gordianus even counts Cicero as his friend. Roman Blood is the first book in the series called the "Roma Sub Rosa Series", meaning "the secret events of
Rome".

From the book's description:

In the unseasonable heat of a spring morning in 80 B.C.,
Gordianus the Finder is summoned to the house of Cicero, a young advocate
staking his reputation on a case involving the savage murder of the
wealthy, sybaritic Sextus Roscius. Charged with the murder is Sextus's son,
greed being the apparent motive. The punishment, rooted deep in Roman
tradition, is horrific beyond imagining.

The case becomes a political nightmare when Gordianus's
investigation takes him through the city's raucous, pungent streets and deep
into rural Umbria. Now, one man's fate may threaten the very
leaders of Rome itself.

I've read most of the books in this series. The stories are recounted in the first person, with the rather seedy Gordianus as the
narrator. It reads as if Gordianus writes the account only very shortly
after it occurs. The books in the series progressively become more
historical novels than historical mysteries, and the writing aims for
literature.

Saylor indulges in his books in the misogyny and sadism of
the times with a bit too much enthusiasm for my tastes. If you are into a
vicarious, voyeuristic experience of this sort, then this is your series.
Gordianus even owns a female slave who is his housekeeper and sex-slave.

The second and third "books" in the series are
actually collections of short stories that are more like "Ellery Queen
Mystery Magazine" stories, aimed at a teenaged audience. The books
in the series, however, are aimed at an adult audience. The author ages
Gordianus quickly over the course of the early books. The last book, The
Seven Wonders, is a prequel set before the first book in the series.

The books in the series are:

Roman Blood (you meet Gordianus and his client, Cicero, even
the dictator Sulla)

The House of the Vestals (short stories - you meet kindly, patrician,
fictional Lucius Claudius, a client, then friend, who changes Gordianus's life
for the wealthier, for a teen audience)

A Gladiator Dies Only Once (short stories - don't read the
notes at the end to avoid spoilers for the future books)

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